Turning Up The Heat

Our Towns: Middletown

April 16, 1998

Middletown Police Chief J. Edward Brymer Jr. reacted in a positive and appropriate way when a North End residents' group asked for his help in making their neighborhood safer. The chief, as did his predecessor, promised to increase patrols and other police activity.

Fortunately, the request comes as the department is adding officers. Three have just finished training, three more are due by May and two are at the police academy. This lets Mr. Brymer assign more officers to the North End with less impact on coverage elsewhere. Already, the evening shift has had as many as two walking officers, two bicycle patrols and one cruiser working the North End. The chief has also been on the street to see what's happening firsthand.

In the short term, high police visibility will give residents and shopkeepers a more secure feeling and will push drug dealers and other lawbreakers deeper into the shadows. That's been the North End pattern in recent years. A spate of trouble will bring increased police patrols that reduce problems. Then, as other duties pull officers elsewhere, crimes begin to intensify. Through it all, the area has supported a number of businesses, which, with residents, have kept the North End vital.

Mr. Brymer, who serves on the Federal Gang Task Force board, knows it takes more than just a street presence to make a dent in the underlying problems in the North End. He can be expected to devote detectives and other police resources to getting at the root of the criminal element in the neighborhood.

Keeping the peace in the North End could be a career's work. Increased patrols will help, but they will be more effective with the cooperation of residents and business owners who report suspicious and illegal activity. Ridding the area of trouble is a community effort.